Ted Poe: Congressman Compares Illegal Immigrants To Grasshoppers

In one of the latest instances of a legislator waxing poetic about the debate over illegal immigration, Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) took the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday and asked why the United States could prevent "illegal grasshoppers" from entering the country, but couldn't capture much bigger illegal immigrants before they crossed the border.

Here's what Poe said:

"Now it seems to me that if we are so advanced with technology and manpower and competence that we can capture illegal grasshoppers from Brazil, in the holds of ships that are in a little small place in Port Arthur, Texas on the Sabine River. Sabine River, madam speaker, is the river that separates Texas from Louisiana. If we're able to do that as a country, how come we can't capture the thousands of people that cross the border everyday on the southern border of the United States? You know they're a little bigger than grasshoppers and they should be able to be captured easier.

Poe floated an additional suggestion:

"And maybe we need to make the guy down there in southeast Texas that captured this grasshopper from Brazil, he oughta be in charge of Homeland Security. If he's able to do this with grasshoppers just think what he can do on the southern border of the United States."

"I think we should catch 'em, we should document 'em, make sure we know where they are and where they are going," Bertroche said. "I actually support microchipping them. I can microchip my dog so I can find it. Why can't I microchip an illegal?"